One of the joys of the Christmas season is throwing weight control cautions to the winds to indulge in seasonal taste treats.

Mexico’s holiday food repertoire is replete with palette-pleasing temptations.

Typical food and drink go hand-in-hand with December’s posada parties, the festive prelude to Navidad. The classic beverage ladled out at these social gatherings is ponche navideño, a steaming brew concocted with ingredients such as tejocotes (hawthorn fruits), jamaica (dried hibiscus flowers), guavas, prunes, strips of cinnamon bark and slender stalks of sugar cane. Mugs of the heart-warming punch, packed with healthy vitamins, are often topped with crunchy bits of pecans or peanuts and spiked with a shot of brandy, rum or tequila for those who imbibe.

Folks who prefer ice cold brewskies may opt for a bottle of Noche Buena, the Mexican brand of dark beer widely marketed during the holiday season. Sidra, a mild sparkling apple cider, is another bubbly choice to swill down with party fare.

Buñuelos are popular sweet treats frequently served at posadas or purchased from street vendors. These paper-thin wheat fritters that are fried to a golden crisp may be formed into round wafers that are bathed with a sticky syrup or molded in the shape of snowflakes, coated with sugar crystals.

Like most other countries where the birth of the Christ Child is celebrated, Mexican households get together for traditional family feasts. Here the cena navideña  (Christmas dinner) is customarily dished out in the late hours of December 24 after clans return home after attending Christmas Eve church services.

For many Mexican families, tight financial circumstances dictate an economical but hearty spread of tamales, pozole or roasted chicken. For those who can afford it, an upscale holiday menu is composed of a variety of dishes representative of the country’s unique mestizo cuisine.

Naturally pavo (turkey) — the feasting fowl native to the Americas — is the most popular choice for the main course. The bird is usually prepared for Mexican tables with a rich stuffing based on ground meats and sausages rather than Anglo-style bread dressing.

In some parts, a popular holiday main dish of Spanish origin is bacalao a la vizcaina, a toothsome stew of dried cod and potatoes flavored olive oil, onions, garlic and green olives. Another standard is revoltijo, a spicy platter made by combining wild greens called romeritos and tortitas de camarón  (dried shrimp fritters) in a rich mole sauce.

Ensalada de Nochebuena, a colorful salad made up of a bed of lettuce laden with beets, oranges, jicama and a sprinkling of peanuts, makes for a refreshing side dish. Diverse kinds of pasta recipes are commonly prepared to assure a fill for hungry tummies.

Concomitant to the Noche Buena feast is a family fiesta that generally encompasses the no-holds-barred smashing of piñatas loaded with candies and assorted seasonal fruits. Since the night of joyous camaraderie tends to finally wind down at the crack of dawn, December 25 is usually a day for rest and relaxation, when Mexican housewives take a break from routine kitchen duties to feed their broods on el recalenton-yummy warmed up leftovers.